Download The Fall of the republic

Chapter 8, Section 3
Pg. 277-283
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Problem building homes
Dishonest officials stole money
Gap between the rich and the poor
Farmers faced ruin
Cities became overcrowded an dagerous
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Many Romans were farmers of small plots of
land.
In the 100s B.C. the began to sink in to debt.
Why??
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Many were fighting in Rome’s war and could not
tend to their land
Others had suffered damage to their farm during
Hannibal’s invasion of Italy
Most of all small farmers could not compete with
wealthy Romans buying land to create latifundia
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Is a large farming estate
There was a new source of labor used to farm
the land.
Prisoners brought to Italy during the wars.
This forced small farms out of business
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They famers moved to the city but had trouble
finding jobs due to the slaves working for free.
If they were lucky to get hirer they worked for
low wages.
This created a widespread anger among the
Romans
Roman politicians began to worry and turned
the situation to their advantage by winning the
votes of the poor.
They provided cheep food and entertainment
called “bread and circuses”
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Brothers Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus believed
many of Rome’s problems came from the loss
of small farms.
They asked the Senate to give back the public
land and divided it among the Romans
The Senates however were investors of the
public land and did not was to loss their wealth
The senators killed Tiberius in 133 B.C. and 12
years later killed Gaius
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A military leader named Marius changed the
way of the military.
Because soldiers were small farm owners these
men were beginning to drifting way.
Marius began to recruit soldiers from the poor
and in return afford them wages and promised
land.
Soldiers began to be motivated by materials
then by a sense of duty.
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Soldiers began to become loyal to generals not
the Roman Republic
This lead to military becoming involved in
politics to get laws passed to provided promise
land to the soldiers
However this new system lead to power
struggles.
Marius was faced with a rival from a general
within his army Sulla
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Sulla drove his enemies out of Rome in 82 B.C.
and made himself dictator.
Over the next three years he changed the
government.
Weakened the Council of the Plebs and
strengthened the Senate
After he stepped down Rom plunged in to an
ear of civil wars for the next 50 years.
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What Changes did Marius make to the Roman
Army??
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What Changes did Marius make to the Roman
Army??
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Marius changed Rome’s army from citizen volunteer
to paid professional. They were loyal to their
generals, not to the republic.
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After Sulla left office Roman leaders battled for
power
In 60 B.C. three men were at the top:
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Crassus, Pompey, and Julius Caesar
Crassus was one of the richest men in Rome
Pompey and Caesar were not as rich but
successful military men
These three formed the First Triumvirate to
rule Rome
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A political alliance of three people
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The three men had a military command in
remote area of the republic
Pompey was in Spain
Crassus in Syria
Caesar in Gaul (Today’s France)
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Caesar became a hero to Rome’s lower class.
Senator and others feared he would become to
popular and seize power like Sulla
Crassus was killed in batter in 53 B.C. In 49
B.C. Senate decided Pompey should return to
rule Rome.
Orders were given to Caesar to give up his
army and come home.
He had a decision to make come home and risk
being killed by his rivals or stay with his army
and risk a civil war….
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Caesar decided to stay loyal to his 5,000
soldiers.
Caesar and his army marched into Italy by
crossing the Rubicon, a small river at the
southern boundary.
Pompey tried to stop Caesar; however, he
drove Pompey’s forces from Italy and then
destroyed his army in Greece is 48 B.C.
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44 B.C. Caesar declared himself dictator of
Rome for life.
To strengthen his hold of power he filled the
Senate with new members who were loyal to
him
He created a new calendar with 12 months, 365
days, and a leap year.
This was called the Julian calendar and was
used throughout Europe until A.D. 1582
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Caesar was aware that Rome needed Reform
He granted citizenship to people living in
Rome’s territories outside the Italian peninsula
Started new colonies to provided land for the
landless and work for the jobless
He ordered landowners using slave labor to
hire more free workers
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Many believed Caesar was a strong leader and
brought peace and order to Rome.
Others feared he would want to become King
Of these enemies were Brutus and Cassius who
plotted to kill him
On March 15 44 B.C. Caesar was stabbed to
death by his enemies at the Senate building.
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After Caesar’s Death Rome dove into another
Civil War
On side was lead by the men who had killed
Caesar
The other side was Caesar’s grandnephew
Octavian
Octavian, Antony, and Lepidus created the
Second Triumvirate in 43 B.C.
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These three men began fighting at once
Octavian soon forced Lepidus to retire from
politics
Octavian took the West and Antony took the East
Antony fell in love with the Egyptian queen
Cleopatra Vii and formed and alliance
Octavian told the Romans that this alliance was to
make Antony sole ruler of the republic
This lead to the Romans and Octavian to declare
war on Antony
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This battle took place in 31 B.C. off the west
coast of Greece.
Octavian defeated Antony and Cleopatra’s
army and navy
The couple fled to Egypt a year later killing
themselves before Octavian reached them.
This made Octavian at the age of 32 at the top
of the Roman world.
The civil wars and republic was over and
Octavian set a new system of government call
the Roman Empire
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Octavian chose not to make himself dictator for
life as his great uncle had. He know the people
favored a republican form of government
Cicero a political leader, writer, and rome’s
greatest public speaker encouraged this
decision
Octavian gave some power to the Senate and
the rest of the power to himself. His title
became imperator meaning commander in
chief later to be called emperor.
He then changed his name to Augustus
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Who was the First Triumvirate??
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Who was the Second Triumvirate??
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Who was the First Triumvirate??
 Crassus, Pompey, Julius Caesar
Who was the Second Triumvirate??
 Octavian, Antony, Lepidus